England vs South Africa the 2nd most important series in world cricket..?

Question

Bold statement i know!

BUT today it was announced that Future Test series between South Africa and England have been granted 'icon' status by Cricket South Africa and the England & Wales Cricket Board with the support of the ICC. Basically this means that South Africa & England will play a 5 match test series every time they meet.

Now at the moment the only other series which is in "Icon" status is The Ashes.

SO by awarding future England & South Africa series does this mean that England vs South Africa is the 2nd biggest series in world cricket in terms of importance!

Which other series do you think should be awarded "Icon status"?

Australia vs South Africa?

Answer 1

I guess that's what it means & it makes me happy to hear!BTW, I had to go into your profile/Qs to get this! How tiresome YA is becoming!

Edit, sorry about the second part of your Q, I would like to see the NZ V Aus & the NZ V Eng given that status as well, plus the SA V Aust.

Answer 2

I don't understand what makes a series get an ''icon'' tag. I.C.C may look for the competitiveness between the teams.................... Well I really don't agree, u see if England would have ruthlessly beaten R.S.A by an innings (every team has it's good/bad days) then how can one be certain that the second test will be the same as the first. The last series between India & Australia was so heated up, why didn't IND Vs AUS gets an icon tagline?? According to me, each & every international ''test'' series is a icon series by itself. Its the class & the quality of cricket that matters.

Answer 3

Hmm, a second Ashes. Don't know about that KooKee, I think I need a moment for it to digest...

Well watching it unfold from Aussieland, I know one thing - it is only a win/win for us. In as much as we love to see both teams lose! So, I think the worst case from our point of view would be a draw!! I think you guys will probably still have the edge over the SA’s though. That is this - there is only one thing better than seeing England lose, that is seeing South Africa lose!!

Seriously though, I don't see the need for any further games to be given this title.

Can you fill me in quickly of the significance of the rivalry between England and South Africa? Because the only other rivalry of any ilk I knew about would be India Vs Pakistan. I mean most test playing nations should have a degree of rivalry no matter which teams they play. Save may be if any sub-continent team play anyone other than another sub-continent team.

See, after the recent series against NZ you guys had, there was no shortage of controversy. (which most of it btw was typical media beef up) But what it does do is add interest to the next series.

The Ashes are different - they were born out of the very foundation of our game as it is today. So, to put another match into "Icon" status, must mean there is a special significance between the sides.

BTW, Binga, I too was having this problem. You have to change your settings from Australian Questions Only in the "show" box to all questions. I know you probably know this, but I thought I would just remind you. All the settings in Australia have been changed to default to Australian questions only.